Sakshi Trainings - 1 - Revised on Aug 5 2012

Vedanta reveals that there is a dimension of reality to ‘I’ that is free of all bondage, that is indestructible, changeless, permanent, ever-present, ever-peaceful and the very source of all joy. This dimension of ourselves is not cognized even though always present – it is taken for granted even as we take the light in a room for granted. It has to be there is a logical conclusion, because it is impossible to imagine that change can be recognized without a changless reference.

To help us to recognize the existence of this dimensionless dimension, Vedanta teaches us to use simple logic to mentally separate the changless dimension of our self, from the variable, changing aspects of our body-mind experience that we take to be ourself. Vedanta points out that what shines as ‘I’ is simple awareness, the subject, who is totally independent of whatever is objectified and who cannot be objectified.

And as against this simple awareness that is myself, whatever can be known, experienced, objectified is the imperment, ‘not-I’ that is ever-dependent on ‘I’ to reveal its existence and being.

In Vedanta we look at Awareness or consciousness at two levels of reality - one is called as satyam which is the independent reality on which everything that exists dependent- which is Pure Consciousness / Awareness that which is changeless and cannot be negated in any period of time, and which without undergoing any change whatsoever is the source or content or basic substance of all that is known or knowable. The other is consciousness that is apparently conditioned by the mind and the products of the mind. This conditioned consciousness is entirely dependent on pure consciousness for its existence ... it is a dependent reality and so is given a technical name ..... 'mithya'. Giving an example of satyam and mithya... water is satyam being independent of whatever is its product or effect, and wave is mithya being dependent on water. Again in the case of the ocean which is composed of all the waves, water is satyam and ocean is mithya.

The aim of all spiritual pursuit is discover one's self to be SATYAM - Pure Limitless Ever-Present Consciousness - the independent Reality in whose ever-presence everything else apparently comes into manifestation, and is illumined, enlivened and empowered. The limitless consciousness or awareness shines as the ‘I’ of every being in this universe. This limitless Awareness with regard to its own manifestation as the entire universe is who is called as God – and as God is endowed with unimaginable all-intelligent and all-knowing power that manifests as the infallible Order that governs the universe. My Guru Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati always points out it is not that God is infallible – rather it is that the infallible is God.

This simple awareness is the one in whose presence everything is illumined – even as the light in a room illumines all the objects in a room. And even as the light is not affected by what it illumines, so too pure awareness being satyam, a different order of reality, is unaffected by what is illumined in its presence – it is like an uninvolved witness and so is also in this sense called as ‘sakshi caitanyam’ the witness consciousness. Is water the satyam of wave and ocean really affected by changes in the wave or ocean?

Awareness is the non-negatable truth about oneself which is ever-present. However our attention is not directed at seeing this truth. So with commitment to seeing this truth as a living ever-present reality about oneself, one can train oneself to live in awareness of this timeless awareness…. This training requires :-

a. knowledge gained from satsang about the existence of this simple awareness as the ever-present changless one in whose presence all experiences are illumined and empowered.

b. a commitment to alertnessor mindfulnessat all times to recognize this awareness- alertness means having a mind that is available for recognizing this awareness in and thru whatever is currently going one, without wandering unneccessarily and aimlessly, a mind that does not remain in the past either joyfully or morosely, nor fret over the unknown future or expend all its energy planning furiously for it.

c. alertly using one’s breath as an anchor, train oneself to use discrimination to seperate the permanent dimension to from the impermament and variable aspects of what one takes oneself to be.

UNDERSTANDING AWARENESS

What Awareness Is Not

Not mind, not intellect, not memory, not ego.

Not sense organs of perception such as eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin.

Not the life-breath. Not the physiological functions (five pranas).

Not flesh, not bones, not fat, nor skin, nor marrow, not blood, not tendons and cartilage, not muscle

Not the organs of action such as speech, hands, legs, genitals or anus.

Not likes, not dislikes, not greed, not false projections.

In awareness there is no pride, no jealousy, nor pursuits of dharma, artha, kaama or moksha

In awareness there is niether punyam nor paapam, nor happiness or sorrow.

Awareness is not an experience, not the object of an experience, nor even the experiencer.

In whose all-intelligent, all-knowing , all-powerful ever-presence, all this is manifested, illumined, enlivened and empowered – and yet who is free of all that is manifested and illumined in its presence.

Awareness is the very content of every thought, every feeling, every perception - in its presence they shine, they are revealed. They depend on awareness, whereas awareness is free of them. Just as wave depends on water for its existence, yet water is independent of the wave.

To know that you have a dimension to yourself that is REAL, meaning that which is ever the same and ever-free of whatever perceptions and whatever feelings you may be having as a result of your perception .... is truly liberating. You are ... and you are free ... always .. it is something to be discovered by you ... nobody else can do it for you ... it is your discovery .. for you... which liberates you from being just a ego caught up in your own life-story.

And this discovery is made only in a calm mind ... and the discovery stays only where there a great deal of clearance from the sense of reality in the internal noise of fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, sadness, hurt, jealousy, projections of one's well-being being dependent on external sources. That clearance is to be initiated by oneself ... and one needs grace of God and Guru and consistent and regular sadhana for that .... so intelligent prayer paves the way, as does shraddha in Guru and oneself.

Awareness is simple awareness as the witness consciousness in you, that is infinite, whole, complete and which cannot be objectified by your intellect. ... because it is you. This simple awareness, described as sat-cit-ananda, ever-present limitless consciousness, that is totally free of all form, is also God from the standpoint of the world around - this awareness is also endowed with unimaginable (acintya) power ... power that you the individual may get access to depending on your tapping the subtle dimensions of your mind. However no matter what forces you have access to, you still will not be liberated, until you recognize your essential identity with formless, changeless, limitless awareness that is your true self.

Training Oneself To Recognize The Self-Evident, Ever-Present, Truth

There will be four exercises based on using one’s breath as an anchor, initially ... after which will be the certain truths revealed by Vedanta, we need to dwell on ... which gives immediate insight into how awareness is the essential truth, the God within, the Divinity about us that can't be negated.

These exercises are meant to be done ... not read only... at the end of these exercises the mind is very calm ... calm enough to assimilate the facts revealed by Sruti pramanam.

When doing these exercises, one relaxes. In that relaxation there is subtle observation. And none of these observations, be they of breath or sound or touch ....or even ones thought or feelings ... is possible without the presence of awareness ... so one is alive to the presence of awareness at all times ... recognizing its invariable presence as the background in which the whole experience takes place .. any experience. Awareness is the background in whose presence the experiencer, the object of the experience and the experience, whatever it maybe ... are. One becomes alive to that fact ... and that liberates when you recognize that, you are that awareness fundamentally.

Fundamentally, one is awareness, which is ever the subject, which is never objectified, which is formless, which is unconditioned by anything revealed in its presence, which is independent, and on which everything else depends, which simply cannot be negated, which is indestructible. Thus the awareness one is fundamentally, is not a function of the mind. It is another dimension of being, on which everything else depends. And one recognizes this to be one's truth in a calm mind.

Trainings Using One-Pointed Attention To Recognize The Sakshi

The first training’s purpose is to help us be in a frame of mind that will be condusive to recognizing the sakshi caitanyam – the witness consciousness who is the changless dimension about oneself that is background of every experience, indeed in whose presence and in whose being all experiences are illumined. Fringe benefits are

a. One exercises every part of the lungs which is healthy.

b. To provide training ground for increasing one’s capacity for one-pointed attention and learning to calm the mind.

The remaining training helps one to recognize presence of sakshi in and thru all that we think, feel, or do. This will be taken up later, once we have familairized ourself with the first training and derived the joy of understanding facts about ourself.

1st Training - To become mindfully awareful of one’s breath and recognize the ever-presence of awareness – the sakshi or witness

For all these exercises, please be very relaxed and sport and half-smile on the lips.

Exercise 1 – Massaging the lower lobes of the lungs

Sit in Vajrasana or sukha-asana or even in a chair, with spine erect, neck head and spine in a straight line. Keep palms face down on the thighs – with fingers in cin-mudra position – ie with thumb holding the index finger gently.

While inhaling gently and slowly recognize and acknowledge that “Breathing in, there is awareness of breathing in.”

Continue like this for 5 minutes with alertness keeping your attention on the flow of breath.

Exercise 2– with massaging the middle lobes of the lungs

Sit in Vajrasana or sukh-asana or even in a chair with spine erect, neck head and spine in a straight line. Keep palms face down on the thighs – with fingers in cinmaya-mudra position – ie with thumb holding the index finger gently – and this time fold in the other three fingers into the palm

Follow the breath along its whole length in alertness. So

While inhaling gently and slowly recognize and acknowledge that “Breathing in, there is awareness of length of breath (being short or long).”

Sit in Vajrasana or sukha-asana or even in a chair, with spine erect, neck head and spine in a straight line. Keep palms face down on the thighs –and this time in aadi mudra ie fold in all the fingers into the palm with four fingers covering the thumb which is also folded into the palm

Being awareful of the entire breathing mechanism (movement of lungs, abdomen) alertly follow the breath as :-

Sit in Vajrasana or sukha-asana or even in a chair with spine erect, neck head and spine in a straight line.

For both hands in brahma mudra - fold the thumb into the palm and then all the other fingers into the palm so that fingers cover the thumb which is also folded into the palm. Place both folded palms face up below the navel, so that it is comfortably resting touching the fold between groin and thighs.

Being awareful of the calmness (after doing the previous three exercises) alertly follow the breath as:-

Awareness or consciousness is always present. It is direct, immediate, self-revealing, self-evident. It is the invariable in every experience. No thought is required to reveal it. All you have to do is turn your attention to the fact or its ever-presence, which is easy to do in a calm mind.

It is your Self, the changless, formless, limitless dimension which cannot be negated - ever. This is known thru the means of knowledge Vedanta. It is the witness-consciousness called sakshi in whose presence alone breathing takes place

This changless dimension in you is also the Lord from the stand-point of he universe which includes your body-mind-sense complex. The Lord is in the form of your Ishta Devata.As God, awareness is endowed with acintya shakti … you can do upasana on awareness in the form of your Ishta devata– which is meditation on your Ishta devata - and allow yourself to recognize the fact that as an individual you have no existence apart from your Ishtha Devata – He/She pervades you through and through. You can also have greater access to that Ishvara-shakti as your mind becomes calmer and calmer.

That the changless dimension of oneself is indeed the self of all can be recognized only by the teaching of Vedanta assimilated in very calm frames of mind. And such a frame of mind require sadhana and Ishwara Kripa.